Aircell Gets $176 Million for In-flight Broadband

Aircell, the Itasca, Ill. company behind the wildly hyped GoGoin-flight broadband, has raised $176 million in funds from an undisclosed group of investors. (Don’t worry — we asked, but they wouldn’t tell us who invested in the company.) The funds will be used for network expansion, among other things.

GoGo, which is currently available on more than 700 commercial aircraft, and has commitments from a total of nine airlines, needs to build out its network aggressively if it wants hype to meet match reality. As it has grown, GoGo’s connection quality has declined as the strain on its network has gone up because of increased usage.